New York Times Blasts Texas Gov. Perry’s Call for a Day of Prayer

While Governor Rick Perry and Republicans Reach Out to God, Democrats Reach Out to “Americans United for Separation of Church and State”

A.W.R. Hawkins – Big Journalism – 06/15/2011

On Sunday, June 12th, the New York Times ran an old-fashioned hit piece on Texas Governor Rick Perry. They’re all worked up over the fact that Perry dared invite people to join him on August 6th for “a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our troubled nation.” To make matters even worse (in the eyes of the Times), the service Perry plans to attend is a “Christian prayer service,” sponsored by the American Family Association (AFA).

Manny Fernandez and Erik Eckholm, the two obviously talented and extremely observant reporters who wrote the piece on Perry, even noticed there will be people at the service who hold radical positions like a belief in the infallibility of the Bible, the centrality of Jesus Christ, and a future judgment.

But the best part about the Times’ hit piece was that Fernandez and Echholm were so outraged by Perry’s announcement that they let their liberal intolerance fly and blurted out some things in print that are priceless. Like when they wrote of how Democrats largely opposed Perry’s call to prayer but Republicans supported it. Or more specifically, when they said the Democrat opposition to Perry’s call for prayer was “predictable.”

Did you get that folks? The Times is on record (in print) saying Democrat opposition to prayer is predictable. (Keep this mind when Obama is getting trounced by Sarah Palin in 2012 and he suddenly starts quoting scripture and remembering the line “One nation under God” when saying the Pledge of Allegiance.)

If you think I’m taking this out of context, here are Fernandez and Eckholm exact words: “The governor’s announcement of the prayer event provoked predictable scorn from Democrats and praise from some Republicans.”

In other portions of the Times’ hit piece, Barry Lynn, executive director of “Americans United for Separation of Church and State,” stood with the Democrats by criticizing Perry’s call to attend “a sectarian gathering that excludes millions of Americans.” Lynn apparently had no comment on how the fallacious, secularizing belief system that undergirds “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” excludes tens of millions of Americans from its membership.

In case you’re not familiar with “Americans United for Separation of Church and State,” they’re the conniving group that files lawsuits to prevent praying during graduation ceremonies, that opposes the existence of the National Day of Prayer, that promotes the idea that opposition to same-sex marriage is an “assault” on homosexuals, and that now stands against Governor Perry’s call to prayer.

Wow. What a group, huh? Sounds like a better name for them would be “That Bunch of Liberal, Jack Booted Thugs Barry Lynn’s In Charge Of.”

Anyway, the bottom line is that in the course of trying to bring down Governor Rick Perry, the Times inadvertently reminded us of two very important things: 1. Republicans largely support Perry’s call to prayer for this nation. 2. Democrats don’t.

Therefore, on August 6th, while Perry, Tea Partiers, and Republicans throughout the nation are asking God to guide and protect us, Democrats will be mailing in checks to renew their annual memberships in “Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”